RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VETOES NEW RELIGION BILL

LONDON

Russian president Boris Yeltsin has refused to sign the controversial Law on Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations sent it back to parliament for further work. His office declared that as it stands, some parts of the bill contradict the Russian Constitution and violate international agreements on religious freedom. According to Reuters News Service, Yeltsin said he had reluctantly decided not to sign the draft law because it contradicted Russia's constitution guaranteeing equality for all confessions.

The bill had been passed 300 votes to 8 votes by the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, on June 23. It was approved by the upper house, the Federation Council, 112 votes to 4 votes on July 4, with one abstention.

The bill had been vigorously supported by Russian Orthodox Church leaders but opposed by human rights and religious liberty activists within Russia. Supporters of the law said it would help control the big post-communist explosion in religious sects that have fed on Russians' poverty, spiritual hunger or simple curiosity, according to Reuters.

It also encountered opposition from outside Russia. Pope John Paul II wrote a "personal letter" to President Yeltsin on June 24 complaining that the bill was "very restrictive" compared with the 1990 law on freedom of conscience which it would have replaced. The United States Senate voted on July 16 to reduce US aid to Russia by $200 million in 1998 if the bill became law.

The bill now goes back to parliament for reconsideration after the summer recess.

Compass Direct, Reuters News Service

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